Since I've become
something of an ice hockey fan, I've started watching some hockey movies I
never saw when they first came out, like this one. MYSTERY, ALASKA is set in
one of those colorful, eccentric small towns that show up in movies and TV
shows. The young men there play ice hockey on a frozen pond and are very good
at it. A writer who grew up in the town sells a story about it to SPORTS
ILLUSTRATED, and he comes up with the idea of having the New York Rangers play
an exhibition game against the local team. The NHL thinks this would be good
publicity and goes along with it. Complications ensue, mostly humorous, a few
more serious.
This is a pretty good film. A little on the raunchy side, but that seems to go with hockey movies, at least the non-Disney ones. A young Russell Crowe plays the local sheriff, who's also the oldest member of the local team. Burt Reynolds, proving that he was a pretty good actor when he was interested, is the crusty local judge, a retired player who winds up coaching. Hank Azaria is the guy who left town and became a writer. The supporting cast is good, as are the production values, and the hockey scenes are staged so you can tell what's going on.
MYSTERY, ALASKA was written by prolific TV writer David E. Kelley, whose work I either like (PICKET FENCES and the first few seasons of THE PRACTICE) or hate (pretty much everything else he's done). This movie is funny and well-written, though, and I think even non-hockey fans might enjoy it.
This is a pretty good film. A little on the raunchy side, but that seems to go with hockey movies, at least the non-Disney ones. A young Russell Crowe plays the local sheriff, who's also the oldest member of the local team. Burt Reynolds, proving that he was a pretty good actor when he was interested, is the crusty local judge, a retired player who winds up coaching. Hank Azaria is the guy who left town and became a writer. The supporting cast is good, as are the production values, and the hockey scenes are staged so you can tell what's going on.
MYSTERY, ALASKA was written by prolific TV writer David E. Kelley, whose work I either like (PICKET FENCES and the first few seasons of THE PRACTICE) or hate (pretty much everything else he's done). This movie is funny and well-written, though, and I think even non-hockey fans might enjoy it.
